In recent years, in order to share various image output apparatuses used in an office or the like, these apparatuses are connected via a network. For example, conventionally, a printer is prevalently used as a local printer connected to a single apparatus, but is increasingly used as a network printer which is shared by apparatuses on a network.
Also, various functions are installed in a single apparatus to build a hybrid machine. For example, a copying machine, which is installed with a printer controller having an image processing function, and serves as both a copying machine and printer, is commercially available. A facsimile function or the like is further added to such copying machine, and more advanced multi-functional apparatuses are available.
In an environment in which a plurality of hybrid machines as such output apparatuses are used by connecting them to a network, if any obstacle (such as a trouble or a fault) has occurred in one hybrid machine, it is desirable that another hybrid machine takes the place of the hybrid machine that has caused the obstacle, so as to execute its job.
As an example of such substitution process, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-011242 describes the following mechanism. That is, when an obstacle that has occurred in a printer which is executing a print job is detected, a substitution printer which substitutes that printer is selected on the basis of a measure to be taken for the obstacle, and the selected substitution printer continues execution of the print job.
However, such job substitution can be done between only identical models or limited models which have compatibility in an output method, data format, job transfer method, and the like.
For this reason, the user who wants to use job substitution must purchase two or more identical models or similar apparatuses, and cannot use a printer, copying machine, or facsimile apparatus of another model as a substitution output destination if he or she possesses such apparatus.
Even when a printer is a hybrid machine having a copying function and facsimile function, jobs other than PDL (Page Description Language) print jobs, e.g., a copy job of the copying function, and a facsimile job that outputs image data received by the facsimile function, cannot be substituted upon occurrence of obstacles.
Upon substituting a print job in such print system, it is a common practice to transmit an identical print job to another printer in advance irrespective of whether or not a print job is normally processed, and to designate execution of the print job at that printer when any obstacle has occurred. However, the user is required to make some setups and operations (e.g., he or she must delete job data that becomes unnecessary when no obstacle occurs), resulting in inconvenience.
Furthermore, in order to substitute a print job without requiring any extra operations, a function of searching for and determining an output apparatus which serves as a substitution destination, making data conversion for a substitution print process, and sending the converted data to the substitution destination apparatus may be provided to each output apparatus. However, print schemes and data formats different from those which are assumed in advance cannot be coped with, and it is difficult to modify to cope with such different print schemes and data formats.